Status Variabilis - Revised version
by Little green
Summary: Duo and Trowa live in the belief that space took them their loved ones forever. But a strange mission begins, one that might change their lives... (No new chapt. yet, Just revamping the story first!)


Hiya, back with a weird fic. a really weird one. It will be mostly non-yaoi, with hints at shounen ai, and total weirdness. (Takes liberties with the series storyline, it could almost be an AU, if you prefer)   
Rating : PG13, for now.   
Genre : Uh... weird. 

The Disclaimer : It's raining Gundams! Hallelujah! Except it's not raining Gundams in my room. So GW is not mine, and I have to borrow. Booh! ;_;   
  
  
  


USS Status Variabilis   
  
  
  


                "Wait... Nanashi wait!" 

The cry was soft, uncertain, and desperate. 'Now or never' it seemed to whisper, on that deserted plain. Nanashi walked straight for a few seconds, and faltered. If his body and whole demeanour gave no sign of compassion or hesitation, he knew deep in himself that he was giving in. The childish plea resounded once more, and he stopped completely. Could he go back? No. As much as he hid it, he was too proud to simply come back and give his forgiveness. It would feel like he was admitting he was wrong. And he wasn't. But he sensed he wouldn't be able to just turn away either. She had led all his comrades to death, and now he was lonely, so lonely. Could he pretend he wasn't her fault? 

He needed her. 

Midii observed the standing boy sadly, with a hint of confusion in her teary lavender eyes. Why had he stopped? _Maybe__...__ Maybe... _

  
She took a step forward, knowing he could perfectly hear her and shake her off. He didn't move. She took a second hesitant step. 

He could hear he small feet in the dust as she walked. It was too slow, almost painful. Might as well end it now, he thought, disappointed with himself and awfully relieved at the same time. He didn't know why, but he could almost have cried. "Come or leave. But don't make us late." 

She shivered at the cold and emotionless tone and the promises it kept. _Maybe... "Late... for what?" She whispered, as she caught up with him. _

"I don't know." 

_I really don't know, Midii... _

                The two kids made their way through the huge hall. Nanashi seemed unimpressed by the crowd, the people screaming, moving, chatting, running. Midii, on the contrary, would have given anything to be somewhere else, maybe in that deserted plain again. They had spent hours huddled in the back of a mining truck, the only vehicle that had accepted to take them to the nearest big city for free. She remembered having shivered at the 'price' some drivers had asked for the ride, eyeing the children with adult eyes that she didn't quite understand, but still feared a lot. 

  
And know, all those people. She almost ran to keep up with his pace, and tentatively tried to catch his hand. She felt him stiffen, and swiftly took it back, only to find that he had caught it and wouldn't let go. She didn't know what to think, but she felt safe holding his hand, not to mention that it would avoid her getting lost in that strange place. 

Nanashi dragged her through the thick crowd almost without thinking. H had wanted to be angry, show her that it wouldn't be forgiven that easily, but he had no choice, she walked so slowly and she was such a clumsy oaf, what would she do if he let her all by herself? He heard something behind him and realized that she was talking to him. 

"Where... are-" 

"They said there was work available in Aligra's covered market. We'll need money." He said blankly, not even turning to make sure she had heard or understood him. 

_He is always so serious... _

Midii felt suddenly like a child. They were about the same age, maybe he was a year older or so, but there was a gap between them, a gap that amazed her. Until the Alliance had made her a stand-in spy, she had lived a modest but relatively protected life, going to school, helping her father wash the clothes, nothing that required her to be an adult. He, on the contrary was a small adult, with adult thoughts and adult worries. And God, she felt like a bother. 

He finally stopped in front of a dark stall, where various signs indicated that the shop recruited and bought whatever was offered. He entered warily, noticing the lack of air, of light and the strange atmosphere in the dim room, still dragging a timid Midii. 

"Hey kid..." A man in his mid fifties slurred, getting up slowly from an old grey velvet armchair, "What brought you here?" 

"Business." Nanashi reply coolly, not disturbed by the height difference between them or the smoke of his cheap cigarillo. 

"Better warn you, I'm not hiring a kid for this job. I need a man, sorry." The shopkeeper coughed, before glancing at Midii. "But if you just need money for the shuttle..." The man purred, staring at Nanashi straight in the eye, knowing he was right, "I'm buying her. Don't expect too much, because she's no beauty... A shuttle ticket and that's settled, 'kay?" He said in a hushed voice, grabbing Midii's arm to feel little flesh there was under the oversized sweater. 

Midii panicked at the touch, and the terrifying silence. He wasn't going to sell her to buy his ticket, was he? She knew she deserved this after was she had caused, but she'd rather having him shooting her than staying with that scary man. She wanted to be brave, she tried to be brave, but she ended up just being a little girl, sobbing and sniffing in anguish, until she felt him shift, standing between the shop keeper and herself. 

"That's not enough, and she's not for sale anyway." The emotionless voice replied. 

"I double." 

"C'mon." He said quietly, dragging her out of the shop under the man's disappointed stare. 

Once in the street, he glanced at her briefly. She was still crying. Did girls ever stop? Why was she crying now? Hadn't he refused to sell her? She should have been happy. Though his features remained impassive, he was wracking his brain to find a way to make the sobbing stop. Why was she weeping? It was annoying, and it made him feel... He just didn't like it. He was scanning every word that had been said, and suddenly, he had an idea. After all, she was a girl, so maybe she was crying because... 

"That wasn't true. You're very pretty, you know." 

Midii stopped breathing and looked up, wiping her eyes with her sweater's sleeve, bewildered. She had recognized that cool and deadpan voice as Nanashi's, for sure, but the words, the words he had said. "Wh... What?" 

Nanashi grinned inwardly at his ability to make her stop crying and what his childish mind thought to be a perfect understanding of the weak feminine brain. "You don't have to cry because he said you weren't a beauty. What does he know about it, anyway." He stated. 

Midii stared at his back with wide eyes. Had he thought...? She didn't know if she should be vexed or if she should melt at his tender remark. A growl in her stomach interrupted her thoughts. "Nanashi..." 

"What?" 

"I'm hungry..." She murmured. 

So was he. But he wasn't a girl, and he would die before he admitted it. "Wait here." 

She felt the urge to cry again as he left her and disappeared in the crowd. He wasn't coming back, this time, she thought as she stared at the dark forms brushing past her. All those people... She felt so lost.   
He did come back, however, and her face lit up like never before as he wordlessly took her hand again, walking down the streets. It was almost night and the sky had darkened, but the countless signs and neon lights covering the walls made up for the sun's disappearance. He handed her a bag filled with dried fruit and bread, but quickly snatch it back as she extended her hand to take some. She looked at him with hurt in her eyes, silent. 

"Before you eat... We have to settle things." He said sternly. 

"I... " 

"You can come with me, but you'll have to run. Can you run?" He asked, still clutching the bag. 

"Yes." She whispered. At that point she would have said anything. 

"Good. Because I don't think we're going to take that shuttle with a ticket." He stated. 

"You... What?" Midii stuttered, eyes widening twice their normal size. 

"We can make it in the hold." Nanashi explained, finally handing her the food, and helping himself as well. 

She didn't reply. There was actually nothing to reply. She knew she wouldn't be good enough to sneak into that shuttle and follow him, and she just couldn't tell him that. Was it a betrayal? Again? Maybe. But she wanted to stay with him so bad, until the end. 

They arrived at the vast spaceport and they both felt strange knots forming in their now sated stomachs. All those people had tickets. And they didn't. Midii felt herself blush in shame, as if everybody was looking at her. She couldn't help but think they looked suspicious. 

  
She let Nanashi drag her through the halls, his emerald eyes obviously in search of something. He stopped in front of one of the counters, were a smiling lady took the passengers tickets and... Luggage. 

Nanashi stared at the carousel engulfing itself in the spaceport's hangars, then at the people waiting, then at Midii. It didn't take long for a twisted idea to form in the child's mind. He took her arm, pulling her close. Close enough to make Midii feel all weird, as he breathed in her ear, but mostly close enough to explain her 'the mission'. 

Five minutes later, Midii stood alone in the queue, and she could guess Nanashi's form, huddled behind an old man's pile of bags. She waited for the signal, ready. She could do this. She would. 

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! MY MOMMY SAW A SEWER RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She bawled at the top of her lungs, trying to look as distressed as possible. 

The indescribable scramble her scream provoked was enough to make her lose her bearings as well, and a wave of panic swept through her, as she tried to find him amidst the people shrieking, running and searching. Her heart nearly stopped when she felt a small hand grab her wrist and she was roughly thrown on the carousel. She made out the hostess's skirt, luggage, more luggage, and Nanashi's face, somewhere. 

The children eventually let themselves fell on the ground, before the luggage reached the second control, and crawled like culprits until they caught a glimpse of the shuttle's gigantic and aerodynamic form.   
Midii noticed that he seemed in a sort of awe in front of it, and she almost felt bad for disturbing him. "Nanashi... Where does it..." 

"L3" The kid whispered back. 

"And how are we going to enter? The rat isn't such a good idea." She gasped. 

"No it isn't. See that luggage?" He began, pointing to a pile of bags neatly labelled, waiting for the shuttle to take off. 

"Yes... But..." She squeaked. 

"It had already been controlled." 

"You don't mean..." 

                The sound of ripping fabric disturbed the calm of the huge hold, the motor's vibration being the only life in the dark space. A small hand, followed by hazel bangs and a young head popped out a stuffed bag, the child's gasp for air breaking once again the silence. Nanashi extracted himself from the bag and immediately crawled to Midii's bag, careful not to make noise or at least not to create too much bustle, fearing that one of the shuttle's sensors might detect them, despite their small build.

  
He opened the bag roughly and Midii gasped as cold air hit her face. She had thought she would suffocate in that bag, but now, she felt cold, icy. She unconsciously held herself, tightening her arms. 

"You're cold." His calm voice remarked. 

"I..." 

"It's normal. Space is cold. We'll have to bear the temperature until we arrive on L3." He said, almost gently. 

"What will we do, once we're there?" Midii whispered. 

"I don't know. I guess we'll find." He said blankly, not wanting to look like he was worried about their future. What did he care? 

No. Now he did care. He was responsible. Responsible for Midii. 

"Is it beautiful?" She asked in a breath. 

"Yes." He lied, waiting for sleep to claim her. 

"And... You will stay with me?" She murmured, settling closer to his warmth. 

He sensed her move and did nothing to stop her. She was huddled against him now. She smelled good. It was something he had noticed about girls, they always seem to smell good, or maybe it was everybody else who smell bad. He breathed in the soft and silky locks of blonde hear that tickled his nose and drew her closer to himself. 

"Yes... We'll go to L3 together, and you'll stay with me, forever." 

"_A jamais*." _

_Midii... __Would it have been like that if I had... Taken you with me...? _

                Major Barton woke up abruptly from a rather disturbing dream, and found himself staring at the death notice still laying on his control panel. 

Name : Midii Une   
Age : 10   
ID : 1821F181   
Rank : Technician without qualification. Level 9   
Posting to : Space freighter "UESAS Curwen" AC173-AC188   
Status : Presumed dead 

He felt almost ashamed that his mind was able to build such fluffy fantasies in his dreams, but he mostly found it unfair that she was dead. He had finally decided to look for her, and she wasn't there anymore. 

"Yo Trowa! Snap out of it!!" 

He glanced at Duo's cheeky smile, on the screen and managed to regain his composure. Duo could witness a moment of weakness, but no young recruit should. "I'm still there Duo, no need to bawl." He said flatly. 

"... 'kay. so, what does it say?" Duo asked, still grinning, a little bit more warmly, though. 

"Nothing. The 'Curwen' disappeared during a standard haulage in a partly unexplored zone, in AC191. Probably destroyed by Oz, the Alliance or some armed ship, since there hasn't been any news ever since." 

"Ah... I... well, sorry Tro-man. You know what it is... Things just happen." Duo said quietly, before grinning like a maniac again. 

Trowa didn't bother to answer, since Duo probably knew exactly how he felt, and any compassionate and cheesy conversation would have been obscene, in their situation. Duo never talked about how it had felt when Hilde's vidcom had become silent and they had all understood that it was over, or even about how it did feel now, about how his cavalier attitude toward women was belied by the fact that he had actually never been seen dating anyone. So what? That would make two eternal bachelors instead of one in Preventer's ranks. 

Because, somewhere, deep inside, he knew she was like Hilde. Indefinable. Irresistible. Irreplaceable. 

++++++++++++++++++

                "Cave amantem*." 

Trowa meditated the old expression silently, as he disentangled himself from the pale and sleeping form holding onto him for dear life. 

"_Watch for yourself if she loves you." _

And she did. Once again, he had been helpless; Lost in the whirl of his sighs, of her moans, of the intense and voluptuous heat and the intimate war of their flesh, she had whispered the words. 

"_I love you..." _

He reflected on the emptiness of it all, blaming himself for having accepted something he knew he couldn't give back. As usual, he stared at the door with a strange melancholy, as he buttoned his shirt. It was always the same scenario: each new woman, each new apartment, each new night, and he knew that once he had passed the door, any hope of settling would vanish. So he left, as he always did, and there, waiting for the elevator, remembering the velvety night and thinking about the delicate blonde he had abandoned in the warm sheets, he found he had already forgotten her name. 

Part of of him knew it was cruel to leave a woman as soon as she loves you, and part of it didn't give a damn, wanting only Midii, loving only Midii. 

               Lady Une gave the small assembly a calm and penetrating stare, as she casually opened the files in front of her. 

Around a vast table were sitting Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, Wufei Chang, Lucrezia Noin, the ever elusive Zechs Marquise, Sally Po, Rasheed Kurama, Mariemaïa Kushrenada, a certain Mr. Howard, a few distinguished members of the prestigious PAED - Preventers Aerospace Engineering Department - and, to the general astonishment, two eminently mad scientists, answering to the patronymic of G and H. 

Trowa gazed at his companions in wonder. Heero obviously didn't know anything, for he was trying to ignore Duo's jokes and permanent questions with little assurance. Mariemaïa was staring at Quatre, who was staring at his master, scanning the enigmatic smile for an answer. Howard was chatting casually with Professor G, his gestures indicating that he was talking about a new version of his beloved Peacemillion. Lucrezia was staring at Zechs, who was glaring at Heero, who has turned to Wufei, who was glancing at Sally... 

In short, everybody could feel it was serious, but most of the people sitting around that table were completely clueless. So was he. 

"Shall we begin?" 

At the resounding sentence, all heads turned to the imperturbable Lady Une, and the two scientists smiled in a way that let the ex-pilots expect the worse. 

"Preventers, in partnership with Winner Industries, has decided to finance a particularly important operation. It will principally consist in finding and bringing back on earth a ship that the United Earth Sphere Alliance thought lost, and which seem to have mysteriously "reappeared" in the 55245-I area. Any questions before I go on?" She stated quietly. 

"Why are we even involved? I believe we have a rescue department." Wufei remarked coldly. 

"Because... Because as of yet, no one has been able to establish what we are looking for, let alone find it." Lady Une replied with a hint of uneasiness in her usually commanding tone. 

"Uh?" was Duo's way of initiating more explanations. 

"A PAED ship has recently found and analysed a metal fragment which undoubtedly belongs to the USEAS Status Variabilis, a cargo ship, that was reported lost in AC 191, the part we have most likely comes from the second decompression chamber, you can look at the files that have been distributed for more technical information. What makes it so special, is that this piece of metal has obviously been in contact with other materials. The first one being... A Taurus." 

There was an intense silence in the room, before Duo broke it with a nervous laugh. "That... That's a joke! Tauruses were launched for the first time in AC 194, and that ship was in lost 191 plus the fact that never, during the war, were Mobile Suits sent in unexplored zones, you bet they were too busy trying to get rid of us!" 

"Precisely. Now if you allow me, Duo, I'll go on." Lady Une replied sternly. 

Having successfully expressed the general opinion, Duo slumped in his armchair, waiting for more. 

"In this case, it seems that the Taurus actually collided with ship, causing this piece to detach itself and drift into space. But that, I'm afraid, is almost irrelevant, for it seems that this simple piece of metal has also been in contact with another type of alloy." She added. 

"And?" Zechs remarked. It was quite unusual to have Lady Une give them an incomplete report. 

"And this is where our science ends, and where your imagination can start its work, gentlemen." 

All preventers and non-preventers turned to Instructor H, who was playing with his pen and smiling kindly to the assembly. 

"We put forward a certain number of theories, from the classic to the delirious ones. One thing is certain, though, being one the pioneers of chemical experiments on Gundanium, I can assure you that I haven't invented this metal yet, and no one has, kids!" Professor G chuckled, the scientific excitation obvious in his voice. 

"So, as far as I'm concerned, the PAED has found traces of the existence of a ship that hasn't been built by man." Instructor H grinned widely. 

Wufei's face contorted strangely, betraying his incomprehension and his deep irritation at being called a "kid". Heero stared blankly at Lady Une, waiting for an explanation, while Quatre had turned to Trowa, trying to read something in his shocked and tense expression. 

Once again, Duo broke the silence, becoming the people's voice. "You... You aren't actually expecting us to go to space and... and... I can't even say it..." 

"Chase aliens." Heero finished. 

"YES!" Howard squealed, literally jumping in his chair. 

"With your new redesigned can?" Mariemaïa hissed, eyeing the old man warily. 

"Fluctuat nec mergitur**, young lady..." He merely replied 

++++++++++++++++++

                Howard gazed fondly at the brand new equipment adorning the upper deck, his heart soaring at the thought of all the things he was going to do with this big baby toy. His happiness was a short one however, as a soft and piping voice broke his rêverie. 

"On the fun-packed agenda : Find a way to make this can reach light speed... Oops! Excuse me, we haven't even reached the sound speed YET! Silly me." Mariemaïa mused behind his back. 

The old man turned to face the insolent creature, who held a laptop and was already busy listing methodically everything that could be criticized in the ship. The hair at the back of his neck stood up when he noticed her approaching one of the latest computers; he had caught sight a few loose wires before they took off and... 

"WHAT?! I... I knew it was a can!!" her shrill scream alarmed all the technicians, for it sounded like the ship was ready for Duo's scrap yard. 

"There, there... Peacemillion has never been better, my dear child." 

Mariemaïa's anger disappeared immediately and she managed a smile as she heard the soothing voice of instructor H, and the two started working on Howard's toy, plotting, he assessed. 

How he hated to have Mariemaïa as chief-engineer on his beloved ship. When G and H had accepted the mission, he had thought that - logically - S would be his engineer, since O had never been one to chase after little green men and J, well... But everything had gone wrong, S had declared he was busy developing a new project, O had, of course refused to replace him and it had been so fast, with H pushing him viciously... In short, he had found himself hiring Mariemaïa before he could understand what was going on. 

It wasn't about her competences, definitively not. The whole "I'm-gonna-take-over-the-world" incident had revealed a brilliant, but quite a bit deranged child, and he remembered very well having shuddered when he had learned from Zechs that H had proposed to take responsibility for the brat's education. "Don't waste genius" he had said. The result to him was that, at fifteen, she was even more brilliant than before, but also even more painful. To think that O had been convinced that mathematics would help her calm down... 

               Heero left the sick bay quietly, repressing a smirk at the sound of Duo fussing loudly to avoid being examined and vaccinated, like the rest of the crew. Hard to believe this wailing panda was actually already twenty-five. The best part was that Duo didn't know there was a dental check yet... That last thought finally won over him and he smirked devilishly, as he waited for the elevator. 

"What could make you so happy, Heero?" 

His features tensed and regained their usual grim expression, at the sound of Lady Une's voice. "Nothing." 

"Fine, I'll talk then. I want you, you and your accomplices in the engine room, in ten minutes." She ordered coldly. 

Heero nodded, guessing where this was heading, and walked quietly to the sick bay. There he found Sally trying to force Duo to give blood, helped by Wufei, who was holding him down, and Quatre who was pinning his arm efficiently to the armrest. Trowa merely watched, slightly bemused. 

"You stop monkeying around and follow me." Heero said grimly. 

The four gave him inquisitive stares and left the room, Duo trying to put a tissue on his still bleeding arm. 

"Heero, what's going on?" Quatre asked, worried as usual. 

"She found out." 

"Damn!" Duo growled. 

                 Zechs watched with unreadable eyes the drama taking place : Lady Une had just discovered how her favourite pilots had hacked in Preventers protected files to get information on a girl, who was actually a technician on the... Guess what? He smirked at the idea that he would tell this to Noin tonight. He couldn't wait to see her face. 

"From the data I have, everybody pitched in : I have you, Heero, with your laptop, in March, I have Quatre, with a Winner corp's terminal, still in March, you Duo, in February, and even you Wufei, who surprised me the most, for you dared to use a Preventer terminal!" Une exploded, her cheeks red with barely restrained rage. 

The five pilots gritted their teeth and prepared for the next blow, under Zechs attentive and patient gaze, but it never came. 

"So. What can you say for yourselves?" She suddenly asked, all traces of anger in her voice gone, seemingly replaced by cruelty. 

"Barton is a pilot, like me, and a friend, I did what I thought was right when he needed my help, and I shall not apologize to you or anybody else for that matter." Wufei said proudly, his usual chauvinist expression highlighted by his complete self-righteousness. 

"Uh... I would say kind of same, except that I might apologize a little bit..." Duo stuttered with his best "spanked-puppy" face, unconsciously hitting Une's determination hard. 

"I... I... I'm so sorry! I swear I'll never do it again!" Quatre blurted out, his face red, hiding his eyes behind his golden bangs to avoid Lady Une's satisfied look and Wufei's scornful glare. 

"Joker." Heero simply said, causing everybody to stare at him oddly. 

Lady Une arched an elegant eyebrow, "Does this mean that you have nothing to say, Heero?" She asked in dangerously low voice. 

"No." 

"He's very sorry too!" Quatre and Duo squealed hastily. 

"They wanted to help me. And I know that nothing should justify that we Preventers hack in protected files. But I wasn't supposed to know it would turn out to be so important." Trowa stated. 

"Why not. Can you, at least, tell us what you learnt about this technician, this 'Midii' when you met her?" Zechs sighed. 

"Nothing. She kept lying. Nothing she said to me can be verified." Trowa said coldly. he knew he was going fast in his judgement, but they expected to find an empty wreck and she was dead anyway. The truth didn't matter anymore. He sounded like her. 

               The next few days were tense ones. The Peacemillion had finally reached a decent cruising speed, H, G and Mariemaïa had been working night and day to improve its systems, trying to prepare it to whatever it was they would have to face - despite Mariemaïa's objection that it was totally "illogical and inadmissible" to try and anticipate on a technology they couldn't even understand, and that, of course, to best tactic would be to work mostly on the Peacemillion's weapons, in case the green guys didn't want to communicate. Indeed. 

Lady Une, however, was confident that there would be no life on the ship and was merely prepared to scientific shock. Basically, she didn't care much, at that point.

Noin and Sally questioned Trowa and the boys to no end, for Trowa's so-called love life seemed to be the only distraction on the ship, but received only contemptuous stares and embarrassed silences. Duo ended in the sick bay twice : Once for having found Heero talking to Releena on a vidcom, and second time for having listened. Needless to say that no one dared to question Heero about his own issues. 

As they approached the 55245-I area, a certain life seemed to spread itself in the Peacemillion. All the crew knew that they were approaching whatever it was they were looking for and the radars had never worked so well... 

It was time for the show. 

The Peacemillion had been gone for 9 days, 8 hours and 41 minutes when it began, but no one noticed. 

Quatre slumped in his chair tiredly, staring at the chessboard with a look that was almost desperate. He had kill them all, even Trowa! Why was it that he never won against Instructor H?? He glared at his king -in great distress- and at his queen - in an equally worrying position. 

  
The faint buzzing of the radar equipment behind him distracted him slightly, but he actually paid no attention to the sound itself, no one did-. They hadn't left the upper deck for almost 48 hours - ever since the buzzing had begun - but to tell the truth, they had given up any hope to find something. The permanent and contradictory interferences were impossible to locate, and the intense activity generated by the various magnetic fields in the area made it even worse. 

"Go and try to find something in those damn unexplored zones!!" Duo huffed, expressing the general opinion. 

Lady Une, Heero and Zechs were standing behind Quatre, waiting for the move that would blow the mad scientist. Duo was sprawled between Sally and Noin, an arm around each one, like the Dom Juan he believed himself to be, while Wufei and Mariemaïa were respectively glaring at Duo and the chessboard. 

"Enough!" 

Everybody turned to stare at Mariemaïa, who was tapping her foot impatiently. "The whole crew is sleeping, and we've been on watch for two days, waiting for the Martians to show up, we're all bored, and I'm so fed up with this game!!" 

"What do you suggest?" Howard yawned, snuggling in an armchair. 

"Somebody help him win, for God's sake!" She squealed. 

Several pair of eyes turned to golf balls at her antics and H frowned when she grabbed the chair and sat near Quatre with a decided look on her face. "Now we have two brains. We have to win!" She growled. 

Quatre gaped at her as she pulled him closer and started to whisper her strategy in his ear. Actually he wasn't listening much, he was more concerned about her sweet smell or the various sensations her warm breath in his ear caused him and the fact that this was becoming embarrassing. 

The next move was a decisive one. She moved the knight and H momentarily stopped smiling. 

They all gazed at him in wonder, waiting impatiently for the next move, but nothing came. H, who was now the only one to face the glass panelling which protected the upper desk from the inhospitable space temperature and environment, kept staring, and his eyes were widening progressively. That was when Duo noticed the lights reflecting in his eyes. The lights. Which lights? 

The radar was still buzzing faintly and now, they were all believing he was having an heart attack. Panic gave place to efficiency and Sally kneeled beside him, examining him. 

"We..." H began. 

"Don't try to talk." Une ordered. 

Duo, meanwhile, was still concerned about those lights in his eyes, getting bigger, and bigger... 

"We're go..." 

"WE'RE GONNA CRASH INTO IT!!" Duo suddenly shouted. 

Time stopped as the Peacemillion crew turned for the first time to face the various screens and the huge glass panels. They were, indeed, on the verge of colliding with a ship. A monstrous entity that hadn't been on the radars, that hadn't been anywhere a few seconds ago... 

++++++++++++++++++

                "I have detected weapons on that ship. The first analysis advices caution."   
  
"He's right, we cannot allow them to enter our protection field." A young voice stated defiantly.  
  
"But... Father! I know you can protect us!" Another voice, more childish, pleaded.  
  
"The first analysis advices caution."  
  
"Father stop it! We have weapons too, you can't judge this people!"  
  
"Yes he can! Father estimates what is right for us!!"  
  
The soft lavender eyes turned cold as ice and a flash of sheer hate hardened the delicate features. "Father. Open the protection field. Security level : 3. Then start a docking procedure for the unidentified ship. Gate 19. Now."  
  
"You..."  
  
"It is an order. Father executes."  
  
"Father! Correction, Security level : 9" The elderly voice hissed angrily.  
  
And so, in a vast and dark room, only enlightened by various holographic screens belching continuously countless statistics, three souls decided of Peacemillion's fate. 

               The first thing that surprised Duo was how slow it was. He remembered all those times in Deathscythe, and he knew that the moment before a collision could seem very slow, but there... It was so long. He realized he was waiting, now. He turned his head to look at the others : they all seem to be waiting too, holding whatever or whoever they could. But nothing came.  
  
It was Heero who said it first. "It... It stopped us."  
  
The Peacemillion was indeed, floating peacefully next to the huge unknown ship, in a complete silence, for it seemed that all motors had stopped. Once they managed to get up, they discovered a that the engine was surrounded by a shimmering and translucent veil, the eerie manifestation being probably responsible for the "miracle" they assessed.   
  
"Heheheee! I can't believe!! It's like, like Chewing gum!" G suddenly laughed insanely, holding a control pannel for dear life.  
  
"Uh... Chewing gum?" Duo dared.  
  
"The monitors are categorical. This field, or whatever it is, absorbed everything, like an airbag." Mariemaïa's voice could be heard, a little dreamy.  
  
"Airbag or chewing gum, then?" Trowa mused.  
  
"She means that it absorbed our speed, our energy, our weight and the shock wave." Heero explained.  
  
"Basically, we entered its field, as if it had cuddled us." Duo resumed, scratching his head.  
  
"I don't like that..." Wufei hissed.  
  
"What do you like anyway?" Sally remarked, regaining a hint of a smile.  
  
"No time for this." Howard cut. "I have some communications back, the crew is okay too, it seems."  
  
"Fine. Is everybody alright here?" Lady Une checked.  
  
"I guess so." Zechs replied, helping Noin up.  
  
"Hem. I'm afraid something is wrong." H suddenly gasped.  
  
"WHAT NOW?!!" Mariemaïa shrieked.  
  
"We're not in control anymore." Heero merely stated.  
  
"We... Damn!" Noin yelled, banging her fist against an helpless panel.  
  
All stared with tense features at the endless columns of numbers and signs invading the screens.   
  
"Is it a virus?" Zechs asked, trying to no avail to stop the computers.  
  
"No, no... It's a system." G smiled.  
  
"Our terminals cannot analyse it, but it is independent, and it uses them-"  
  
"To guide us." Sally finished, as the Peacemillion moved slowly, seemingly of its own volition, to a growing ray of light in the monster's side.  
  
"Is it the part where we get blown up, now?" Duo asked, worry filtering through his usual humour.  
  
As the ray of light became bigger and bigger, letting them guess that the strange ship was actually twice as big as they had imagined, all thoughts joined Duo's, feeling something dreadful approach.  
  
"Hilde babe... I guess I'm finally coming home to you." Duo whispered, closing momentarily his eyes.  
  
"Oh... Oh my God!" Sally suddenly squealed.  
  
"What?" Wufei shouted, grabbing her arm forcefully.  
  
"It's in English!"  
  
"Wh..."  
  
"She's right! Look! It says '_Gate 19'! That can't be an alien ship or anything!" Noin giggled in sudden relief.  
  
"You. Stupid. Woman." Wufei hissed.  
  
Zechs's eyes narrowed at the comment, so did Noin's.  
  
"A friendly ship, right? One of us, of course? Then where did they get such a technology!" Wufei barked.  
  
"He's kind of right..." Trowa admitted.  
  
"Well, I hope they're friendly, because I think we've arrived." Mariemaïa whispered, squeezing Quatre's hand, under Lady Une's disapproving stare.  
  
_

"Hilde... I wanna see the bird..."  
  
"Stop it now, Midii! You're not going anywhere!! People are bad! Have you already forgotten?"  
  
"But I wanna-"  
  
"Shut up! Please!! I am begging you to shut up for once! Can't you see it's not a giant bird?!"  
  
"We have friends... Friends visiting us... Because it's Christmas..." The soft voice sang.  
  
"They're not friends! They will take us, they will take Pangée! Is that what you want?"  
  
"We have friends..."  
  
Somewhere in the dark corridor, a sob of anger and frustration resounded.  
  


++++++++++++++++++

                "Fine. Who wants to lead the exploration crew?"  
  
Lady Une's voice was welcomed by an eerie silence. All were staring calmly at the long ramp keeping Peacemillion attached to the ship. They could make out faints lights, indicating a gate. And beyond the gate... Beyond the gate, only imagination, for none of them could figure what was there. They all invoked scenes seen in movies, fascinating books, trying to picture in their tired minds something that they could both handle and discover. A Chimera.  
  
Heero's voice resounded. "I'll go, with Wufei and Zechs."  
  
"I'll be under your commands, then, young man." H smiled.  
  
"We'll be waiting for you in here, and three of us will be ready to rescue you. Does that sound okay?" Duo asked.  
  
"Then be it." Lady Une ordered. "Heero, you and your men, ready in the third airlock, in five minutes."  
  
  
  
               "Great. Now that we're outside, how do we get in?" Wufei huffed, floating softly in front of the gate, his voice stuffed by the heavy equipment.  
  
"It is true that I had almost expected the doors to open themselves in front of us..." Zechs chuckled.  
  
"Stop joking and be careful... Please." Noin's voice whimpered in his helmet.  
  
"Almost..." Heero mumbled for himself, glaring at the dark gates, "If it's really in English... Almost..."  
  
"That's it. Heero has gone nuts again." Duo's voice laughed in the communication.  
  
"No, he simply uses his brain, which is the least we can expect from a Gundam Pilot." Mariemaïa hissed, before talking to Heero in a gentle voice, "I'm going to try and help you. What do you see?"   
  
"It looks like a standard airlock, protected by a plating, to me." Heero mused.   
  
"One single door, or two?" She asked.  
  
"One."  
  
"Okay... We're going to try something. Look on the sides, move your hand slowly against the plating." She replied.  
  
"What am I looking for?" Heero murmured, absorbed by the slow movement.  
  
"Any kind of unevenness on the surface." She replied.  
  
"I- I think there is something." Heero suddenly said, stopping to press his hand more firmly against the dark metal.  
  
"Can you feel a shape?" H asked, his voice giddy with barely restrained excitement.  
  
"I think it's round. It moves." Heero answered, letting the old man approach.  
  
"And... Ah! Genius, only genius, always genius!" H squeaked as the heavy gate moved slowly, revealing an airlock, as Heero had predicted.  
  
Wufei's eyes widened progressively, as the door opened, and it took a firm shaking from Zechs to take him back in the real world. "Shall we?"  
  
"Uh. Ah... Yeah... We- We shall." The Chinese pilot stammered.  
  
"Terrific..."  
  
Heero almost smirked as he heard Mariemaïa's awed voice on the communication, and various sighs of amazement which he guessed were Noin and Sally's.  
  
Despite the long years of training that Zechs, Heero and Wufei had all undergone, there was a hesitation, once they were inside. The sound of the airlock closing heavily caused a shudder to run down their spine, even if none of them would have admitted it, and Instructor H's permanent smile did little to ease the atmosphere.  
  
A few tense seconds passed before H announced that they could take off their helmet. At least, they could breathe, Wufei thought, half-satisfied.  
  
The first minutes of their exploration revealed little, except the fact that more and more questions appeared. The ship was obviously of human's conception, many details hinted on it, the most obvious being that the instructions were all written in English. However, H had to give up quickly when it came to understand the technology that had been required to build the monster, for nothing he had ever studied compared to this. The third point, that Zechs noticed first, was that the futuristic structures were a deep contrast with the ship's global state : It seemed old and already slightly damaged.  
  
Although he kept perfectly silent during the exploration, Heero was inwardly stunned by the immensity of the ship. Peacemillion looked like a bug, compared to it, and yet it was probably one of the biggest space battle ship ever built by man, along with Libra. He couldn't help but wonder what had motivated such a building. Was it the dream of only one man? Had it been created to save an important population? How many people could live in there, anyway, thousands?  
  
Heero's thought were interrupted by Wufei's yell.  
  
"Hey!! You! Wait!!" The young man shouted in the general direction of a shadow, moving swiftly.  
  
Zechs froze, ready to use his weapon, and H's eyes scanned the area, with his ever present smile.  
  
They all stopped moving, stopped breathing, listened to soft rustling noises, waiting for their host to show itself.  
  
On the communication, they could hear their friend's worried voice, whispering and demanding answers. Zechs cringed at the idea of facing Noin later, if he survived, of course, and he was now seriously considering a little white lie to soothe her stressed mind.  
  
The answer, or whatever they had been waiting for, came from the ceiling.  
  
Eight eyes widened in shock as blonde head and a few golden locks appeared from an opening in the aforesaid ceiling, quickly followed by a body. A young girl landed softly in front of them, her angelic features enlightened by a shy smile.  
  
"Hi."  
  
Wufei had never been an expert in human relationships, but he hated the stranger immediately. He couldn't explain the feeling. She was sweet, warm, her behaviour was calm and welcoming, her movement were slow and measured, so as to inspire no threat to her guests, in short she was a sheer angel, but he hated her instinctively. He couldn't place the feeling, he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong. Wrong, that was the word; a feeling that she was fake, acting only for their pleasure. That was what made him feel suddenly so cold, she sounded artificial.   
  
He didn't say a word, though, as he noticed that his companions seemed to be mesmerized by her beauty and the peace she exuded. He just waited for her to talk.  
  
"Could we be friends?" She murmured gently, holding out her hand to Zechs, who took it gently, his eyes never leaving hers.  
  
"What is your name?" Heero asked, his voice cold, but with a hint of softness in his eyes that betrayed his weakness.  
  
"My name is So... My name is Midii. Midii Une." The young girl smiled.  
  
And Wufei hated that smile too, it was visceral.

  
____________________________________________________________________________________

Details :

   
*_Cave amantem : From Prosper Mérimée's short story, "__La Venus d'Ille" READ IT! IT SOOO CREEPY AND WELL WRITTEN AND FASCINATING AND... Okay, end of the ad. _

** _Fluctuat nec megitur : "She sails but she never sinks". It's not from Titanic, ;) it's the "motto" of Paris, because its symbol is a medieval vessel. _

*** Status Variabilis means "The reverse of fortune", it is an extract from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" (_For those who dunno it, it was used as a soundtrack for John Boorman's "Excalibur" -1979_) I choose this title because in the song, the choir talks about how humans would sell their soul for a little bit of fortune, and how weak they are sometimes.


End file.
